Bringing Down The House
by Svendances
Summary: Steph is really bringing down the house in this one... or is she bring up dinner? Anyway, things are happening in this one that I never thought of until i sat down at my computer. Have fun!
1. Intro: Wats Going on?

Chapter One 

Through a haze of sleep and nausea I noticed a presence in the room but couldn't care less who it was. All I knew was that if I didn't make it to the bathroom within the next half a second there would be an unpleasant slime on the carpet (not that there is such a thing as pleasant slime, but you know what I mean). I'm not even sure I opened my eyes before I was dashing through the door and kissing porcelain.

The bile burned my oesophagus as it rushed towards the nearest exit. Nothing ever prepares you for the taste of the previous nights half digested dinner, not even the fact that you were just throwing it up a minute ago. As soon as you gut starts to contract you're thinking, _this is gonna be disgusting_ and then you amaze yourself at just how right you actually were

Whoever it was had followed me into the bathroom and was now rubbing my back as I gave my offering to the porcelain god. Oh, what a sight I must have been, my hair bedraggled and sweaty, eyes crusty from sleep, body spasming, very little clothing (it had been hot the night before), sweat pooling all over my skin, grasping the sides of the almighty receiver so hard my knuckles were white.

"Are you alright?" they asked.

_Yeah, I'm fine. I just thought I'd introduce the inside of my stomach to the s-bend. Wanna join me? _Gee I didn't think it was possible to feel anything other than self-pity while hurling your guts up, but here I was managing sarcasm with a hint of hostility. Yay me!

As the person continued to murmur soothing words in my ear, and I continued vomiting, I realised the voice was feminine. That's weird; I could have sworn I had come home alone last night. I hadn't invited anybody over, or had I? Shit, what happened? I'd gone out for a few drinks after a stressful day at work catching bad guys, I'd gotten totally shit-faced (that could be the source of my problem), then I'd come home and eaten the left over sub from the fridge (hmm, when was the last time I'd had a sub before last night…) Oh crap, not good A) I was thinking about food while tossing my cookies and B) I can't remember when I bought the sub.

"God this was not the morning I had in mind when I got up this morning," said whoever it was. "I'm, having a hard enough time keeping my own breakfast down. I don't even know why I came here."

All I could think was _don't talk about food. _I gave a final dry heave and collapsed on the tiles. I heard the toilet flush, the cupboard door open and close, the faucet turn on and then off again and felt a moist cloth on my face wiping away what I imagined was spew residue. This was followed by the faucet on and off and a dry cloth mopping up the moisture left from the wet one.

"What did you do lat night? I came in and all I could smell was… on second thought, I don't think I want to go there. But Baby, you have to take better care of your body. You poison it with alcohol and all this junk food. You're digging yourself and early grave. I suppose it's a good thing you don't smoke, that would make it ten times worse."

I moaned, clutching my head in response, hoping she would get the hint and shut up, but she continued talking.

"I actually came over with some exciting yet terrifying news, but seeing how poorly you are I'll wait until you're better before I lay it on you."

Several hours later I woke up, completely naked except for the sheet tangled around my middle. Shocked, I sat bolt upright, my eyes darting around the room. It was dark, I couldn't see much, the door was closed and the curtain drawn. I didn't remember returning to my bed or even removing what little clothing I had been wearing. The female someone, the one who had rubbed my back and whispered comfortingly earlier, she must have stripped me and carried me to… preposterous! She'd have to be Wonder Woman! Maybe she half woke me and made me walk. But why would she have de-robed me? Hmm, this was quite a pickle I was in.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the wall, focusing on my breathing. Hoping that whoever the woman was she hadn't done anything to me while I was unconscious, or robbed me… Cripes I hope she didn't take my TV, there was a ball game on tomorrow I wanted to watch.

As I swung my legs off the bed I reached for my robe and put it on, not bothering to fasten the belt, chances were high that the house was empty anyway, I mean, who would wait around for the person you had just robbed to wake up? I padded to the bathroom to relieve my bladder before heading downstairs to the kitchen for coffee. Nearing the bottom step I smelled the much-coveted aroma of coffee already brewing. Uh, can we say slightly disoriented?

I picked my gun up off the sideboard in the hall before entering the kitchen with it at eye level, robe flying out behind me. What I expected, I can't really say, but it certainly wasn't what I was faced with right now. There at my kitchen table sat my darling fiancé, reading the paper with her coffee mug frozen halfway between the table and her mouth. Her eyes widened as she took in every inch of me, and I mean EVERY INCH.

I was slightly embarrassed, not because I was standing buck naked in my kitchen with my fiancé's eyes glued to me over her mug, but because I hadn't even considered the possibility of my future wife being the one who had taken care of me and now here I was pointing a gun at her!

"Felling better, I see," she said, eyeballing my lower extremities. (_AN: His toes, guys! Geez, you have such dirty minds!)_

My gun lowered with out thought and I groped around for the belt of my robe. She stood, rounded the table, removed the gun from my hand and placed it gently on the table before stilling my hands.

"I like it," she told me in little more than a whisper. Running her hands over my chest she asked, "How do you feel?"

"Fine. Steph, what are you doing here?" yeah I know, stupid question, but what can I say? I was still half asleep.

She laughed and shook her head. "Morelli, you're a worry. I'm here to look after you. Do you really think I would have left you alone while you were spewing your guts into the dunny? I'm not even gonna ask what happened last night. After cleaning this kitchen I don't want to know.

I groaned. It was a god thing she didn't want to know, because I couldn't remember. With the way she talking I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

"I knew there was a reason I decided to marry you." I leaned down to kiss her but she pushed me away.

"Whoa there, Vomit Breath, I think you need to shower and brush your teeth before that mouth is coming any closer to my face." Can we say cut? "I'm ordering from Pino's, you want a sub?"

My stomach turned at the dreaded word and she stepped back quickly, worried I might slime her. Can't say I blame her there.

"Joe! Your mother's here! Why don't you come down and greet them!" I stood at the door with Mrs Morelli and Grandma Bella, my two favourite people in the entire universe… Not!

"No, he's sick, he should stay in bed," Said Mrs Morelli. "Besides, we're here to see you."

Just great. The one thing I couldn't have wanted less. "Oh?" I managed.

"Yes," she said. "Bella has had a vision. A strong vision. Stronger than any other."

"I've never had a vision so strong," Grandma Bella put in, as if I didn't already get that it was powerful.

"I tried to sound interested. "And what was this vision about?" I really didn't need her to tell me, but you know, had to be nice to the future in-laws.

"You." Like I couldn't see that one coming. "You carry the unborn child of my grandson this very moment. Do not deny it, I know it is true, for I have seen it," she added.

A small smile crept onto my face as both women watched. "Yes, I am," I said simply, then adding, " I haven't told him yet." At their shocked faces I felt the need to explain. "I only found out this morning and then when I got here to tell him he was so ill, it was pushed from my mind until the two of you turned up." When I finished their eyes moved to something behind me, assumabley, Joe.

"Joseph, what are you doing up?" Mrs Morelli asked sternly. "You should be resting."

"Mom, I'm fine, really. I'm much better than this morning." He came to my side and wrapped an arm around my middle.

"Well, if you insist. I made you a canolli; I figured once you were better you would want something home cooked instead rubbish you order from Pino's." Hand him a dish covered in gladwrap, which he took with a smile.

"We should be going," Bella said. "I need to take a nap." Both women gave me a hug and kiss on the cheek before leaving, which left me looking like a stunned mullet.

"What was that?" Joe asked, closing the door. I blinked rapidly, trying to clear my head, but did not answer him. "Steph? You okay? You don't look so good, maybe you should sit down." He turned me toward the kitchen and led me forward. "Come on."

He sat me down at the kitchen table and poured a mug of coffee, which he set down in front of me. I pushed it away and looped my arms around my stomach. Joe looked confused, but took the mug away anyway. I couldn't tell him now, he would think I'd given in to Grandma Bella's shenanigans, but I would tell him eventually. Or maybe I could drop a really obvious hint like taking another pregnancy test and leaving it "in the trash." No, that would be mean and heated discussion evoking. I definitely had to tell him, face to face, just not now.

Joe pulled a chair up beside mine and embraced me in a reassuring hug. "What's up," he asked.

"I guess I'm just tired," I replied, and I really was. "I'm going to bed."

"Okay, I'll be up in a minute. Goodnight darling." He kissed my forehead and I made my way upstairs.

The next morning I awoke to a shudder running through my lower belly. It was only a minor flutter, barely worth mentioning, but it was the reason I woke up. I rolled over and found Morelli smiling at me. He pulled me to him and his look became serious.

"Do you have any idea why I pulled you over?" he said in his cop voice.

"Um, I don't know officer, was I speeding?" I asked innocently, battling my eyes.

"I have it on good authority that you are hiding something on your person. I'm going to have to administer a full body search."

"Please don't arrest me, officer."

"I'm sorry, standard procedure."

I sighed and flung my hands above my head. "I surrender!"

Morelli covered my body with his own, claiming my lips. His tongue lingered on mine as his hands roamed south of the border (down Mexico way). He pushed my t-shirt up and buried his head in my breasts, taking my breath away. Slowly, he kissed a trail down my abdomen, drawing little circles on my thighs with his thumbs. My panties, I realised, were around my ankles, how they made it down there I had no idea and I didn't have time to find out. A stronger more urgent flutter ran through my stomach and this time couldn't ignore it.

I sat up quickly, startling Morelli, and ran to the bathroom, making it just in time. I was on my knees bowing to the ceramic deity with Morelli behind me, holding my hair out the way.

"The tables have turned," he said, bemused. "Twenty-four hours ago our positions were reversed. Are you okay?"

I gave a final shudder and sat back on my heels reaching for the towel Morelli handed me. I wiped the chunks from around my mouth, stood and grabbed the toothpaste, squirting it straight into my mouth before picking up my toothbrush.

"Honey, are you okay?" Morelli was behind em rubbing my back.

"I'm fine," I managed around a mouthful of toothbrush and toothpaste. I was leaning heavily on the vanity counter gripping the edge tightly with my free hand in an effort to stay upright. I spit, rinsed and stumbled back to bed, collapsing on the covers and not bothering to move into a more comfortable position.

"Baby, are you going to be alright if I leave you to go to work?"

I nodded. "Mmm hmm."

"Okay, well, I'll call you later to check up on you. Do you want me to call your mother?"

I sat bolt upright, nausea completely gone but a headache presenting itself. "No!" I swayed a little and Morelli lay me gently back down on the bed


	2. Ta DAH! Huh?

Chapter Two 

_Okay, so I don't own any of this, although that would be cool. Um, sorry about the length of this one, it just kept coming. I'll try to keep it shorter in future. I know I hate long chapters.Thanks heaps for all the wicked awesome reviews... keep 'em coming, i need support._

"Really, Morelli, I'm fine. Actually I'm getting used to it." I sat on the side of the bathtub, waiting to regain my balance before I had to stand to have a shower.

"It's been two weeks, Steph, you need to see a doctor." Morelli was leaning against the vanity, dressed and ready for work. "You can't just pretend it's not happening."

I took a deep steadying breath. "Look, give me an hour and I'll be fine. You should go to work."

Morelli sighed. "Stephanie, you're sick. You need to stop being so stubborn."

"This is my life, Morelli. My life and I'm living it and I don't need a dictator. What I do need is someone who will respect my decisions and let me do what I feel is right. Can you do that?" He was silent. "Morelli?"

"Fine!" He threw his hands up in resignation. "But don't think it will be as easy to convince me if you're still like this in a week."

I looked up as he was heading toward the door. "I love you," I called.

He turned, half way out the door and smiled. "I know."

An hour later I was on the phone to Mary-Lou with my dilemma.

"How do I tell him?" I asked. Mary-Lou was an expert at these things having done it an average of two point five times.

"He seriously has no idea? Geez, I knew he was stupid, but come on! Morning sickness for almost a month, most of it spent with him. Hello?"

"Yeah, I know, my fiancé is dense. How do I tell him?"

There was a moment of silence as she thought carefully. "Well, there's the whole candle lit dinner deal, if you want to be cliché… Oh! I know, take another pregnancy test and 'accidentally' leave the stick on the vanity counter!"

"You really don't like Morelli much, do you?" I deadpanned.

"I did it when I found out about Michael. It worked alright."

"It's mean."

"Oh, okay, you party pooper. Ummm…" After a moment she spoke again. You could always tell him outright."

"Never mind, I've worked it out. I'll talk to you later. 'Bye"

Joe's POV 

I got home at six that night and found a note on the kitchen counter.

Joe,

Gone shopping. Be back around seven. Bringing home a pizza.

Cupcake

PS. I have something very important to tell you.

Important? Cripes, I don't like anything important she has to tell me. Last time she had to tell me something important it was that the two biggest gangs in the city were after her. Important was NOT good.

By the time Steph walked through the door at ten past seven I had already drunk three beers and scoured the bathroom. Why, I had no idea. I ambushed her in the entryway, taking the pizza and her shopping bags, and kissing her before demanding to hear her news. She smiled nervously and suggested I sit down.

She dropped her bag on the counter in the kitchen and got herself a glass of water. Plain. With no additives! I can't remember ever seeing her drink a plain glass of water. And she was so nervous and fidgety, okay, that ones not so unusual, but she was nervous _and_ happy at the same time. That was new.

I did as I was told and sat down at the table. She pulled a chair up beside me and took my hand in hers squeezing tightly as if she felt she were going to faint.

"What is it?" I asked again.

She took a deep steadying breath. "I'm pregnant," she gushed. For a moment I thought I had misheard her, but the I reflected on the past few weeks, the sickness that was gone by midday, rapid mood swings, cravings for ice cream and olives, together, in the same dish (oh, wait, that ones was her usually).

"That's… That's… that's um…" I stammered, unable to think of a single thing to say that didn't sound false. I gave up, instead pulling her onto my lap and kissing her deeply.

"Wow," she breathed when I finally released her.

Steph's POV 

"So? When's the big day?" My mother asked as she passed me the peas a week later.

"Um." I met Joe's eyes over the table, filled with love and ecstasy (the good kind). He shrugged. "We haven't exactly set a date yet," I said.

"What do you mean you haven't set a date yet?" Grandma Mazur asked.

"We just haven't had a moment free to talk about it," Morelli answered for me. "What with the rising crime rate and all the skips."

"That's no excuse," my mother says, "You should make the time. This is the happiest day of your life we're talking about. For God's sake, make an effort, Stephanie."

"Mum, it's not such a big deal. Besides, it's my life not yours. Can you just let me live it?"

"Well, excuse me for wanting to help my daughter and see her happy!"

"That's the thing, mum; it's not helping! Nothing you ever do helps! You don't understand my life, yet you're always trying to fix it. Will you just BUTT OUT?"

The table went completely silent with the exception of Dad's fork clattering to the floor. Tears were burning behind my eyes; tears that I could not let Mum see, so I left. I stood and walked calmly from the room and out the back door.

A few minutes later, as I sat in an old lawn chair in the dark, I heard footsteps in the kitchen followed by the door opening and closing.

"Steph?" It was Morelli, my night in shining armour, for want of a better clichéd phrase. "Steph, are you out here?" I sniffed in response and he turned the porch light on. "Are you okay?"

Is he serious? I just screamed at my mother and left so she wouldn't se me cry! "I'm fine." My voice was small, but it travelled quickly in the night air. "Go back and finish your dinner, I'm not hungry anymore."

"That's too bad," he said as he reached my side. "'Cause I brought you pineapple upside down cake."

I looked up and smiled weakly, how could I refuse cake? Morelli upended a nearby crate and planted himself on it, handing me a plate and fork. I ignored the fork and picked up the huge slice of delicious, mouth-watering cake in my hand.

"I just don't know what's going on with me," I managed through a mouthful of cake.

"It's the hormones. I saw it with my sister too. She'd have huge screaming matches with mum and then dissolve into tears, unsure of what she had just been screaming about. Its perfectly normal." His hand moved to my arm reassuringly. "It'll pass. I promise."

At that moment the screen door opened again. We turned to find my dad walking across the lawn with a glass of something fizzy. He smiled at us as he came near. "I'm glad you finally put her in her place, Pumpkin. She's needed it for a long time and nobody's been game enough."

"I shouldn't have," I sobbed through my cake. "She doesn't deserve it. She was just trying to help."

"No, Pumpkin, she does deserve it. She's deserved it for years now."

"I still shouldn't have yelled at her."

"Pumpkin, it goes with the territory."

At first I just agreed. It wasn't until I was lying in bed later that night that his words really took on some meaning. Morelli was snoring beside me, as always, but I could not sleep. I just kept replaying the night's events over and over in my mind. Suddenly it hit me; I sat bolt upright, startling Morelli. "He knows!" I breathed.

Morelli rolled over so he was facing me and stared groggily. "Huh?"

"He knows!" I cried, "Cripes, I didn't think it was that obvious. What am I gonna do? Then again, he should know the signs by now, he's seen it twice with Mum and three times with Valery… Shit, shit, SHIT!" I rambled on a moment longer before Morelli pulled me back down onto the pillow.

"It's okay," he soothed, stroking my hair off my face. "So what if he knows. This is your _father _we're talking about He's not going to tell your mother." Leaning over, he kissed me hard on the mouth, more as an effort to Get me to stop rambling than anything else, but, like any other kiss, it lead to other things.

"I'm giving you three seconds to be on the floor with your hands above your head," I whispered menacingly, holding the vermin at gunpoint. I know I'm not usually the violent type, but this guy had really pissed me off. "If you're not on the floor at the end of those three seconds I will bring you to the floor and I refuse to pay the cleaning bill if I have to persuade you." I gestured with my gun.

"Shit, lady, what are you on? Alls I did was open the door and now you're telling me I'm gonna cop a bullet if I don't lie down on the floor?" He was slowly making his descent to the floor, his hands in full view the entire time. "What did I ever do to you?"

"You missed your court date, that pisses me off." Okay, so I was a little touchy this morning, I blame the lack of caffeine in my system. "Now, I'm gonna slap these cuffs on you, and you're gonna stay quiet and not pull any stunts. Then I'm gonna help you to your feet and you're gonna stay quiet and not pull any stunts. Then I'm gonna walk you to my car, and you gonna keep quiet and not pull any stunts. Then we're gonna drive across town to the pig station and you're gonna keep quiet and not pull any stunts. Then I'm gonna drag your ass to the guard's desk and you're gonna stay quiet and not pull any stunts. And if you pull anything there'll be a cap in your ass. You understand?" Evidently, while I was explaining the game plan he had slithered to the other end of the hall and grabbed his own gun. He was now sitting on the floor about two metres away with the gun trained on me. "Oh, no you don't," I told him. "You are so not getting away from me. Not today. If you had any idea what was going on in my life at the moment you would not cross me."

"Listen, lady, I don't know who you are, or who you think I am, but you have to believe me when I say I'm not going to jail! It's my kid's birthday, how do you think he'll feel if I miss his party again? I can't let him down! This is my last chance to redeem myself. If I don't turn up he's gonna disown me forever…Please."

Usually I don't give in to these sob stories, but this one hit me right there. I lowered my gun a bit. "How old is he?"

For a moment he looked taken aback. "Uh, four. He, he's four."

"What's his name?"

"Gareth. Gareth Jonathan Teldums. Gareth was his grandfather's name and Jonathan is mine… but you know this already…"

"Gareth is a nice name. What time's the party?" By this time I imagine my eyes had glazed over.

"What is this? Twenty questions?"

I raised my gun again. "Look buddy, I'm trying to do something nice, now do you want to go to the kids party or not?"

He lowered his gun to the floor abruptly. "Noon, at the pool hall."

Isn't it just great when they co-operate? This made me much happier. "Okay, new game plan," I said sweetly, "I'll take you to little Gareth's party, we'll stay long enough for cake and presents then you're going to come quietly."

"Mmm, anything for you Baby."

Okay, he did not just say that. I can't believe he just said that! "To jail! Jeez. If you make another crack like that you can just forget about the kids party!"

I took a hand off the gun to push my bangs out of my eyes and noticed the chip in my nail polish. Things just weren't going my way. I cuffed the poor sucker that sat in front of me. Stuffed him in the back seat of my second hand Yolks Wagon (Don't ask, it's a long, sad little tale about cheap imitations) and slid in behind the steering wheel. Ten thirty, what am I gonna do for an hour and a half with this sucker in my car?

"Hey, girl! You lookin' good!" Lula enthused as I walked through the door, cockroach in tow. Today she wore a hot pink halter-top that showed everything but her nipples (and even they weren't exactly hidden) and pin short shorts (at least I'm pretty sure they would have been short shorts on the right size person, but given that they were at least three sizes too small they looked like underpants). When she bent over to put a file away in the bottom draw I caught a lot more than a glimpse of a pink g-string with lime green polka dots. "Dang, I ain't seen you lookin' this good since that little goings on last year with You-know-which-hunk-of-man-meat."

"How'd you find out about that?" I hadn't told her. I hadn't told anyone! Dammit, all men are the same!

"I guessed. I mean, Morelli never made you that happy, did he?"

"Uh, hello? You're talking about the man I'm going to marry!"

"Oh, yeah. Well, it's working for you, that's the main thing." Her eyes moved past me to Skippy McSkip who stood silently with his hands cuffed in front of him like a good little insect. "Who's this?"

"Skip."

"Skip, that's a name you don't hear too often," Connie put in from behind a stack of files so high anyone would have mistaken it for the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

"His name isn't skip, he is a skip. Jonathan Teldums."

"Oh, I thought he look familiar, he's the DV, right?"

"Shoplifter."

"Wait, there wasn't a shoplifter in that pile you picked up yesterday. There was a Domestic Violence, an armed robber, an arsonist, and a peeping tom."

The lock tumbled on the door to Vinnie's inner office. "Teldums is the armed robber!" he called. This sent Connie on a rampage; practically pull her desk apart to find the device.

"Like I said, 'Shoplifter'."

"What the fuck is he doing in my office?" Vinnie yelled.

"If you want to talk to me you'll come out of that damn office! I'm not yelling through the door!""

"It sounds like you are to me!"

I decided not to respond to that comment, considering the only adequate response would be a bullet in his ass and at this point in time it was hard to determine where he was standing in his office. Instead I told Lula to keep an eye on Teldums while I took a stroll into the back room.

When I returned with another set of cuffs which I had intended to use to cuff Teldums to the leg of Connie's desk while I went out for lunch, he was gone. I look over at Lula who simply shrugged and went back to her filing.

"I need a doughnut," I said to no one in particular, flopping down on the scarred leather couch and covering my eyes with my forearm. "Not just any doughnut, either; I need a huge ass doughnut filled with cream and coated in chocolate icing and sprinkles."

"Wow, sounds like one really bad day," Connie said, "Wanna talk about it?"

"No," I sulked, feeling very much like I was seven again.

"Okay, well, if that's what you want…"

"I yelled at my mum last night for always trying to fix my life when she doesn't understand it, but all she was trying to do was help because Morelli and I still haven't set a date for the wedding and she just wants me to be happy, but the fact is I yelled at her and now she's going to cut me off form pineapple upside-down cake forever. Then I was lying in bed thinking about what happened and I realised that my dad knows, and I know e knows and I'm hoping he doesn't tell mum 'cause if he does I'll not only be cut off from pineapple upside-down cake forever, but from any leftovers that would previously have been sent home with me. I have the worst cramps imaginable. I haven't had a cup of coffee in at least two weeks and my skip just got away. AGAIN!" by this time I was on my feet pacing the floor, totally oblivious to everything around me. "But hey, I should look on the bright side! AT least I haven't rolled in garbage! And my rent isn't due until at least tomorrow morning!" I stopped pacing and glared at Connie and Lula as if it were their fault. "My life is absolute CRAP!"

"Your dad knows what?" I jumped at the soft voice in my ear.

"THAT'S ANOTHER THING! IT SEEMS THAT EVERYTIME I START BLURTING STUFF OUT ABOUT HOW CRAP MY LIFE IS YOU'RE RIGHT THERE LISTENING! IT'S OVER! WHAT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND ABOUT THAT!"

"Well, it is a phrase I've only ever heard once before in my life, and the person who said is long gone, but I'm pretty sure I understand it."

With this happy little thought in mind I promptly fainted


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three 

_It's been a while since I updated and this is only short, so I'm sorry, but I've had exams and such, so you'll all have to get over it. Not that I think your all annoyed about the lack of updatedliness, but hey. This one goes out to my main man (chic); Al. I know you love this trippy stuff. Enjoy, y'all. (I own only the plot line)_

Isn't it marvellous? I love kaleidoscopes! They're so fascinating! I've always loved kaleidoscopes. I don't even remember picking this one up. This has to be the best kaleidoscope ever. It doesn't even seem to be contained in its little tube thing! Wow! Blue, green, red, yellow, orange, purple, they're all here, along with some colours that aren't usually in kaleidoscopes like black and brown and hot pink?

"Stephanie, can you hear me?" Wow, for a second there I thought that came from the little flesh coloured splodge in the middle. Oh well, just ignore it. Pretty colours

"Open your eyes." Oh my gosh! There it is again! The flesh coloured blob is talking to me! I must be tripping out! FREAKY!!

"What's your name?" Hang on, it said my name before, it knows my name. I know it knows my name. This is some kind of trick.

"Squeeze my hands." Hands? Is it serious? It's a blob in a kaleidoscope; it doesn't have hands! Why would it tell me to squeeze its hands if it doesn't have any? This is the trippiest experience I have ever had.

"You don't have hands." I said aloud. I was assuming that trips had the same rules as bad dreams. If you didn't like it you could turn it around. And if you didn't confront the things in it, it would keep recurring.

"What are you talking about Stephanie?"

"You don't have hands," I repeated.

"Stephanie, I'm holding your hands."

At that moment I realised the presence in my hands. Holy crap! "But you're a blob, how can you be holding my hands?"

"She's delirious, we should get her to the hospital," said the darker blob next to the flesh coloured blob.

My hands were dropped and I was lifted. It wasn't like someone picking me up, it was like I was hovering. Like I said: TrIpPy!!! I Hovered away from the place I had been in and the kaleidoscope changed. Now it was brighter, less black more white. I made it back to a sturdy surface and felt something strap over me. It restrained my movements.

"Get off me!!!" I screamed. "LET ME GO!!!"

"Steph, it's okay, we're going to take you to help."

Help? What could help me?? I'm tripping out!

"HELP!!!! LET ME GO!!!!!!" I was thrashing around as much as I could with the restraint and making a God-awful racket. "LET ME GO!!!!!!"

Another flesh coloured blob joined the two already in front of me. "What are you doing to this woman?" it asked.

"We're trying to take her to the hospital, but she's freaking out." Said the darker one.

"HELP!!!!!! GET IT OFF ME!!!!! GET IT OFF ME!!!! HELP ME!!!!! GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!! LET ME GO!!!!! LET ME GO!!!"

"What's wrong with her?" said the new blob.

"She feinted, and now she's having some kind of complex."

"Why's she yelling like that??"

"I've no idea, she started when we put the seatbelt on her," said the lighter one.

"Maybe that's the problem. Maybe what you do to her is portrayed as something else in her head."

"If that's so we should take the seatbelt off before she freaks out anymore and draws even more attention."

What are they talking about? God get this thing off me!!! Their conversation is totally incomprehensible! Talk sense! "GET THIS THING OFF ME!!!!" I continued to lash out, trying to break free of my fetters. I started clawing at my chest and stomach, which seemed to be where the restraints were.

"Stephanie, you need to calm down," the lighter blob was talking to me again. "Darling, this isn't good for either of you."

"What do you mean 'either of you'?" asked the darker blob.

"She's pregnant," said light blob.

"GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!" I screamed, going back to thrashing around. Did the blob just say that I was pregnant? I'm pretty sure it did. This is one weird ass trip. Worse than the time I had too much to drink and then accepted a funny smelling cigarette from my best friend's boyfriend. I could have sworn I was a monkey.

My fist made contact with the darker blob and there was a grunt of pain. "Damn, Cupcake, remind me never to make you angry," said the light blob. "Now, you're gonna have to stay still so I can take the seatbelt off you. Can you do that for me?"

I stopped thrashing about and sat there breathing hard. Cupcake, I thought. It called me Cupcake. What kind of a name is that? It's such a stupid name, even for a pet name. I can't believe it called me Cupcake.

All at once the restraints were lifted. The kaleidoscope was slowly darkening. It was no longer a mass of vibrant colours but a collection of shadows. I closed my eyes and willed the world to stop spinning and kept them shut for what seemed like a long time. All of a sudden I heard sirens and conversations but kept my eyes closed all the same.

"Stephanie," said a new voice. "If you can hear me make some sort of sign of acknowledgement." I groaned because I could feel a headache emerging fast. "Okay, that's good enough, now, in a moment we're going to lift you onto a long, flat, hard surface, then we'll take you to the hospital and get you looked after, okay?" I groaned again.

I felt the flat surface the voice had described and that was the last thing I remember before waking up in a bed that was not my own.

I knew I was awake. I could hear the whispers and murmurs of conversation not far away. I could feel the soft linens caressing my body, but I could not open my eyes. It was physically impossible for me to open them. So I lay there, listening to the conversation.

"Stress," said a voice to my left. "Teamed with the physical changes of the pregnancy her body has proven weak. The best thing for her at the moment is rest. Get her to take some time off work, maybe visit with family." This guy obviously did not know my family. My family is not a good option when you are supposed to be resting.

"I think we'll give the family a miss. They're not exactly calming." Joe said.

"That's fine, it was only a suggestion. Now, as soon as she's awake you can take her home, but make sure she doesn't do anything too strenuous for the next few days."

"Thank you doctor."

"Oh, I'm not a doctor. I'm the janitor, they just give me this coat so I fit in. besides that's probably what they'd say anyway."

"You're kidding me right?" His voice was incredulous.

"Yes, I am. She should be fine. A little depressed for a while, but just fine."

What does he mean by depressed? Why would I be depressed? It was just one trip and I wasn't hurt… was I?

"How do I tell her?" Joe asked.

"She'll know. It's an instinct. I don't know how it works, they just always know before I tell them." HUH???

"Well, thanks anyway."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Okay, so I'm on holidays and now my chapters are gonna get longer coz i have more creative time but less time to get on the internet. Don't be alarmed if i don't update for a while, but i promise the wait will be worth it. Luv you all.

**Steph's POV**

I lay in Morelli's bed thinking about the week I had had. I had yelled at my mother, let yet another skip get away and lost my baby. I was still getting my head around that last one. I felt numb. Nothing anyone could say was going to ease my mind at the moment. I was alone in a sea of hurt. Not that I'm saying Morelli didn't hurt at the loss of our child, but it was a life growing inside me. I was the vessel that had let that life die.

"Honey, are you awake?" Morelli was in the open doorway. He had been giving me a lot of space since he brought me home yesterday and was even sleeping in the spare room. "There's someone here to see you."

"I don't want to see anyone," I told him rolling over to face the opposite wall. "Tell them to go away."

"She's not going anywhere until she seen you," he assured me.

"I don't care." I don't think I would be able to tolerate any sympathy at the moment. I don't think I would have been able to tolerate anything at the moment.

I heard footsteps moving away from the doorway and turned to see that Morelli had left. To tell whoever it was that I'm in no mood for company, I suppose. But then I heard footsteps coming back up. Different footsteps, more forceful.

"Stephanie Leanne Plum How dare you refuse to see me!! I would have thought I would be the one person you _would_ want to see!! If I come in there and you're crying you're in for the hugging of a lifetime! I don't care if you don't want company, I'm coming in!!" I gave a half smile, Mary-Lou, forcing her way through the doors of my seclusion. She stormed through the door, Morelli hot on her heels and jumped on the bed. "How dare you let me find out from your lump of a fiancé that you lost you baby? I thought he was joking! If it weren't for the fact that I could here you sobbing in the background I would have dismissed it! You never sob unless it's a full-blown heartache, like when Ronnie Thompson dumped you in tenth grade. You're a real piece of work you know that!? Why if you weren't such a good friend… What am I saying? I have no idea what's coming out of my mouth!" She paused briefly catching a glimpse of my face. "Oh, baby, I'm so sorry." She hugged me tight to her and we stayed like that for the longest time imaginable.

Eventually there was a knock on the bedroom door and Morelli's voice rang as called out. "Ice-cream delivery. I have one large tub of Better-Than-Sex ice cream for a Miss Stephanie Plum."

I made a sound that was half laugh, half sob as I swiped at the salty liquid that had been streaming from my eyes. Morelli came in a placed a tray with a three-litre tub of ice cream and two spoons on the bed then turned to leave. "Morelli, wait," I croaked around the lump in my throat. "Stay."

"I don't know," he said slowly, "I think it might get a bit awkward; sitting on a double bed with two girls eating Better-Than-Sex ice cream…"

"Please?"

"Good, you're out of bed. What will you have for breakfast?" Morelli was at the sink doing the washing up when I stumbled in.

"I'm not hungry," I told him as I sat at the table.

"Are you sure?" he asked, stepping aside to reveal a bakery bag.

I nodded, "Mmm hmm."

"Honey you have to eat. I don't want anyone to think you're anorexic. Besides, it's not a good look. I hate to be able to see all those ribs, frankly it's a turn off."

Bob came in and put his slobbery head on my lap, looking up at me with those big sad eyes of his. He nuzzled my belly and I felt a tear slide down my face. I quickly wiped it away with the back of my hand.

"Honey, its okay. There's plenty of time. We'll get through this, I promise."

I sniffed. "I promised myself I wasn't going to cry today," I sobbed as more tears streaked my cheeks. "I was telling myself as I walked down that today I was going to proceed as my life used to be. I was going to have a shower and go to work and catch a bad guy and let him get away and get depressed that he got away and…" I was overwhelmed by a huge sob and fell into silence, tears streaming down my face and landing on Bob.

"Life goes on, Cupcake. Its never going to be the same as it was before. We just have to accept that and move on." He dried his hands on a tea towel and pulled me to my feet as he spoke. "It's going to be hard for a while, but we'll survive. It's not the end of the world."

"It feels like it is now," I whispered.

"I know, but its not. We'll get through this."

**Joe's POV**

"FOR GOD'S SAKEE MORELLI GET YOUR ASS OUT OF THAT DAMN BATHROOM!!!!!" Finally, she's back to normal. Its sounds weird, but I missed her screaming. The house was unnaturally quiet, even Bob was quiet. He'd just lie on the floor watching Steph with sad eyes, no doubt adding to her misery. "I MEAN IT MORELLI! I NEED WHERE YOU ARE!!!!"

There was an insistent pounding on the door. "You can come in!" I called, "I'm just showering!"

The door opened and Steph spoke again. "I know! Like I said, I need where you are!!"

"If you need a shower so desperately why don't you join me?" I was only teasing and didn't expect her to take me up on the offer, although I did _hope_. The next thing I knew the curtain was pulled aside and she was shimmying her way toward the spray. This was the closest our bodies had been since losing the baby and boy did my body know it. She stood under the spray and wet her hair then allowed me to rinse mine while she was lathering, practically ignoring my presence in all other ways. There was no chitchat. No playful comments. Nothing except lathering and rinsing.

"Why do you feel the need for a shower so badly?" I asked after an uncomfortable silence.

"I'm going to work," she said shortly.

"So soon? It's only been four days. I thought you would have wanted to take at least a week off." Needless to say I was hoping she would open up to me.

"A week off isn't going to pay the bills, Morelli." She reached for a towel and stepped out of the shower.

"That's why you have me, Cupcake." I too reached for a towel and got out, however, I did not immediately start to dry myself but simply wrapped the towel around myself.

"I don't like that name either." Again her comment was short.

"Cupcake?" But she said she loved that term of endearment. Why was she now telling me otherwise?

"I don't think it suits me." That comment was sharp as well as short, so sharp that I could have cut my head off on it.

"I think it suits you just fine. You eat enough of them. And you're all sweet and gooey."

"Ugh," she sighed, overall note a good outcome.

Maybe I should stop talking. It didn't seem to be getting me anywhere at the moment. Which is weird because usually I could get out of anything by talking. While I was contemplating shutting up she left to the bedroom to dress.

I followed at a distance to find her stepping into a pair of ultra short denim cut offs. She then proceeded to slip on a camouflage tank top that didn't quite reach her navel. Damn, if she weren't madder than hell at me I would have jumped her right then and there, not allowing her to leave bed until I was satisfied several times over.

**Steph's POV**

"Hey girl! What are you doing here?" Lula was taking up her usual position on the couch rather than bothering to do any filing, however there didn't seem to be any files to file.

"Working, what else would I be doing? Any new skips?" I crossed the room to Connie's desk.

"I thought you were taking time off because of… you know," Connie was obviously slightly uncomfortable by the situation. "Congratulations by the way."

"What do you mean by congratulations? You think it's a good thing? You think that it's good that I lost my unborn child? Jeez! Do you have no heart?"

Connie looked startled; I suppose she hadn't gotten the updated memo. "You lost the baby?" she said incredulous. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't know!" She came round the desk to hug me but I shrugged her off.

"I don't want sympathy. From anyone. I just want to get on with my life. Do you have any new skips?"

Taken aback Connie moved to her desk and picked up a small stack of files neatly placed on its corner. "These all came in yesterday, they're only small, so Ranger won't take them. You're free to take what you want, just make sure you photocopy it."

"Will do," I said as I took the files over to the couch to pick through them. Shoplifter, Arsonist, Domestic Violence, Drinking the Vice Presidential Milk, Molesting Goats, Drink Driving, Drunk and Disorderly. All pretty straight forward, I chose the drunk driving and drunk and disorderly, photocopied them and headed back out to my car. Just as I was turning the key Lula climbed in beside me. "I don't need company," I told her.

"Yes you do. Do you really think I would let you drive around on your own kicking bad guys butts in the state you're in?" She strapped herself in and said, "I don't wanna miss what you're gonna do those poor assholes."

I simply sighed and gunned the engine. Twenty minutes later we were parked outside the drunk and disorderly apartment building. I looked over the file one last time, taking in all the necessary information: not overly dangerous, no gun, skinny, glasses, all were good traits as far as I was concerned because it meant an easier take down.

Lula was watching me all the while, taking in my appearance, which I didn't think was any different. My hair was in a pony tale and shoved under Ranger's SEALs cap, I had on worn jeans and a t-shirt and sneakers that weren't all that good for sneaking because they squeaked.

"Girl, what's he been doing to you? You look like absolute shit." I know she meant well, but she didn't phrase it too well.

"I'm off the sugar. I'm trying to get in shape. None of my jeans fit anymore. I'm thinking of going jogging in the morning." All this was out of my mouth before I even thought about the question she asked me.

"He's not treating you right." Her statement was simple and yet it held so much meaning.

That night as I sat at the bar in Pino's nursing my third beer of the evening Lula's words were running through my head. _You look like absolute shit… He's not treating you right… Absolute shit. What's he doing to you?_ I couldn't help but think I'd made the wrong choice. Maybe I just wasn't meant to be with Joe.

_  
No,_ said a voice in the back of my brain,_ if you weren't meant to be with Joe you would have realised long before now. You've known him since you were six._

Shut up. I told the voice. Shut up and stop bringing up the logical side. The fact is we're currently running on drunk and you're supposed to be incapacitated. Leave me to contemplated my life on a purely unsoberly fashion.

Okay, so maybe I'd had a few more than three beers but who could count while drunk? There was only one way to solve this problem I had. I had to go through with the marriage. If I didn't like the result I could always divorce him, after all that's what divorces are for right? _Wrong, divorces are for wives to get out of abusive relationships, not for you get out of a perfectly good relationship because you like more than one guy at the same time and can't stand to choose one or the other._ Didn't I tell you to shut up? _Sure, you tell me to shut up now, but what about when you're stuck in a dead end relationship with Joe and you can't get out of it because it will be too traumatic on the children. Or you're sitting at home in your granny flat all alone with your twenty-seven cats. Twenty-seven cats equal a lot of kitty litter._

Okay, fine, give me the logical side of things but I'm not listening. I'm just going to do what I think is right and the right thing is to go through with the wedding. I've said yes and I'm a girl of my word, I have to go through with this. Then everyone will be happy. Mom will be happy because I finally got married. Joe will be happy because I married him. I will be happy because I finally chose between Joe and Ranger. _But is it the right choice? "_SHUT UP!"

I suddenly realised that what I thought had been an internal dialogue had in fact been external and the last little bit was screamed at the top of my lungs. The bartender came over to me and took my half empty glass away, telling me that I'd had enough and that I should probably call a cab and go home. I was telling him that I didn't need to go home and that I was all right to drive even if I did need to go home when I felt a hand at the based of my neck. My first thought was Ranger and I turned to meet his face, but the face that I met was much darker. Tank.

"Come on," he said. "You look like you need to talk to someone about your problems."

"I swear to Drunk I'm not god," I slurred as he lead me to the back door.

"I know Bombshell, I know. Watch your head."

He was helping me into the front seat of his bronco. "You're a good guy, you know that? I could kiss you… if I could just find my lips…" I heard Tank chuckle as he took the driver's seat and started the car. "Going where we are?"

"Some place private where you can sober up. How many drink did you have?"

I thought for a moment, unable to recall exactly how many I had had. "Um… Three?"

"Yeah right, Bombshell, three of each. Your drunk as a skunk that's been hunked by the chunks." He shook his head then added in an undertone, "and I bet you'd be as loose as a goose that's been done by a moose."

"Are you impying that I would sleep wiff anybogie?" I asked waving a drunken finger at him. Hmm, even my finger looked like it had had a little too much to drink… Maybe he was right.

He reached below my seat and pulled out a bag of doughnuts, a McDonalds bag, a disposal coffee cup steaming with hot coffee and a lollipop; already sticky I might add. I spread my legs watching and waiting for him to pull out a rabbit, but he didn't.

"I didn't know what would sober you up so I got a few different things for you to try."

I gazed from the seat between my legs to Tank and back. "Do yave any wah?" I asked trying to gain control of my tongue as it lolled around in my mouth. He reached beneath my seat once more and pulled out a two-litre bottle of Mount Franklin and I downed it in thirty seconds. After that I went to work on the McDonalds bag of junk, I skipped the doughnut bag and sipped the coffee. By the time I was half way through the coffee I need to pee so bad that I was literally jumping up and down in my seat.

"How much longer?" I asked Tank as he stopped for a light and slid an amused eye over me.

"Just a little further, Bombshell, why?" As if he didn't know.

"I need to PEE!"

"Okay, Bombshell, it's okay. Its just around the corner."

As soon as the car stopped I was out on the pavement to the Got-to Pee dance that I knew and loved. Tank took his time climbing from the Bronco and was grinning when he finally did so. "WHERE'S THE TOILET??" I practically screamed at him.

He ushered me toward a door and followed me inside. "Down the hall and to the left. I'll wait here for you.

**Tank's POV**

Her face sported a look of pure relief as she staggered, yes, staggered out of the bathroom. She was still a little tipsy but at least she was no longer slurring her words and talking to herself.

"Where are we?" she asked as I lead her to the elevator.

"Here," I told her, always the evasive male.

"Yes I know that but where is here?"

"My apartment building."

"But I thought you lived in the RangeMan building."

"I do. This is where I spend my time alone. It's impossible to think when you're surrounded by chatter and cheers."

"So do you often bring ladies here?"

She was getting a little too nosey for my liking; best change the subject before she gets too interested in my sex life.

"We're here because of you. Something is troubling you, you need to talk to someone, and I'm good at listening. Start talking." She looked around as the elevator stopped on my floor and we got out. She waited until we were inside my apartment and sitting on the couch before she spoke.

"I need to get away from Trenton undetected so that no one will find me, not even Ranger. I need a clean break."

It took me a moment to process this information. "Is there any particular reason?"

"Yes, no… I'm not sure. I can't think. I'm suffocating. Everyone is trying to control my life except me and I need time to work a few things out. And I can't do that if I stay here in Trenton around all these people… Do you understand what I'm saying?"

I understood, but I didn't think she needed to go to such drastic measures just for some time alone. "Why not just book a day spa like everyone else?"

She glared at me and shook her head. "If it were as simple as booking a day spa I would have come to you for help."

"You didn't," I reminded her. "I came to you."

"What ever, the point is it's more complicated than that. I feel that the only reason I'm living is to please others and I never get time to please myself. The amount of nights I've spent lying in bed thinking it would be easier if I just didn't exist anymore…"

Okay, maybe I wasn't reading into this enough, I knew Steph hated being controlled, but suicide? I didn't think she was capable of such thoughts. Maybe she did need a new life. "So what do you want me to do about this?" I asked her.

She hesitated, "I need you to train me so that I'm self efficient and can protect myself and then I need you to help be disappear. I'm willing to do anything you think is necessary for me to evacuate, but Ranger and Morelli especially can not know that I'm skipping town."

"So you want the tools for survival in this thing we call a life?" She nodded. "Okay, four-thirty tomorrow morning, we start with a light jog around the oval. We'll take it slow to begin with and slowly build up your stamina. It's going to take a while I hope you know that. You're probably not getting out for at least another six months if you want to be fully self efficient before you leave."

"I realise it's going to take a lot of hard work, but I need to do this. Mean while, what am I supposed to do about Morelli? We're supposed to be planning our wedding."

"Set a date for around a year down the track. You should be out of here by then." I can't believe I'm actually helping Stephanie Leanne Plum, _the Bombshell,_ plan her escape from the life she has. Crap, how am I gonna keep this one from Ranger?


	5. Chapter four PART II

**Chapter Five**

**Chapter Four Part II**

_Okay, so a lot of you have brought up the confusion factor regarding my story, I'll tell you now that this is the same story, and the same Stephanie, and everything will eventually be explained, however, in the mean time you'll have to bear with me while I fumble through the dark for the light switch so that I can enlighten you all. I ask only that you all be patient as nothing is really explained in this chapter, there will definitely be a revelation in chapter six however. I also apologise for not checking my sources and saying that Stephanie's middle name is Leanne instead of Michelle, I did so in a blank moment and will not let it happen again… hopefully. Enjoy (Please)._

**Steph's POV**

"Come on Bombshell, one more lap. You can do this. I've seen you do this. Just pretend you're running to Dunkin's. You love doughnuts. Hey that reminds me, I haven't seen you eat anything with sugar in the past few weeks, what's up with that?"

"I told you, I want to get in shape and the best way to help with the training is to drop the sugar. How much further?"

"Just another mile." At my grimace he added, "Don't worry, it's not as great a distance as you think it is. You did the same distance yesterday and the day before, you can do it."

I slowed to a jog so that I could hold the conversation that seemed to be starting up. "You mean you've been making me go further and not telling me?" I asked incredulously.

Tank who was jogging backwards in front of me so he could keep an eye on me, replied with a simple nod of the head before stating, "Look at it this way though, you didn't break a sweat until at least the third lap today, four weeks ago you broke a sweat tying your shoelaces."

I smiled appreciatively at him, filled with self-pride. With that I picked up the pace to finish that last mile then I would go back to my apartment, meditate for a while.

For the last month Tank has been whipping me into ship shape for smooth sailing (which is funny 'cause he's an army guy) and I was running on a strict schedule as part of my training, it was some sort of time management thingy. Anyway my itinerary is as follows:

Monday to Friday

4 30 am (While it's still dark) Stamina run on the athletics oval.  
5 45 am Meditate  
6 25 am Shower and breakfast  
7 10 am Bond Enforcement  
12 noon Lunch  
12 30 pm Hand-to-Hand Combat Session  
3 00 pm Shooting Range  
3 30 pm Bond Enforcement  
6 00 pm Dinner  
7 00 pm Dance Class  
9 00 pm Optional Free time or Bed  
10 00 pm Definite Bed time

Saturday / Sunday

6 00 am Stamina Run  
7 30 am Meditate  
8 20 am Shower and Breakfast  
9 00 am Hand-to-Hand Combat Session  
11 00 am Free Time  
11 00 pm Bed time

Now you may be asking, why a dance class? Well it's simple… I think. Apparently my balance ain't that good and offcourse you need balance, so Tank has me doing several different adult dance classes to improve my balance, not only that it's improving my grace. I honestly didn't think my grace needed working on, but hey.

"Come on Bomber, don't give up now, it's called a stamina run, meant to improve your _stamina_. Now, one more lap then you can go home and meditate."

"That reminds me," I huffed coming around the top end of the oval, "What's the point of meditation? I just sit there and think about nothing."

"It focuses on your breathing and calms the system, believe it or not you used to have a much shorter fuse than you do now."

I nodded to show I understood, focusing on my breathing so that I didn't pass out or throw up. I finished the lap that Tank had said would match the distance I made yesterday and strove ahead aiming for another lap. I made it three-quarters of the way around at full speed then took it back to a fast jog for the final stretch. I passed the finish line on a wave of glory for beating the distance I achieved the day before.

"Walk it out Steph, walk it out. I'm going for another couple of laps, you walk it out until I get back here for my first lap, then you catch a quick shower in the locker room before you go home." As he instructed me he was jogging in place. Damn, that man was just abundant in energy. I'd be like that one day, I was sure of it. I was going to work at it until I was just as energetic in the morning as Tank is, and then I was going to came back to Trenton and show off how well I had trained while I was away.

The phone rang at six o'clock, interrupting my serene state of mind. I was in the living room sitting cross-legged on the floor with my relaxation CD playing in the background and all of a sudden the phone started chirping overpowering the gentle, soothing sounds of the flute. I forgot to turn the ringer of when I came in and was now suffering the consequences.

Heaving myself off the carpet I stomped into the kitchen and answered the phone with a polite "What the fuck do you want?" There was a snort of laughter on the other end. "Hello?"

"Babe."

"What do you want?"

"Where's Tank?"

"No idea, why?"

"He was with you and now he's late for his shift and he's not answering his phone; I thought you might know where he is."

"Nope, not me. How did you know he was with me?"

"I'm Batman, Babe, I see everything."

Now it was my turn to snort with laughter. "You obviously don't own a TV. It's Santa who sees everything. Batman just takes care of bad guys like the Riddler, Joker, Penguin, and that guy with the normal face on one side and the screwed up face on the other half."

"I don't think a guy like Batman should be chasing after evil doers with such hilarious names, especially that last one, it's a mouthful." He was mocking me. The man was mocking me and enjoying it.

Instead of wasting a witty retort on the Winged avenger I hung up and went back to my meditation, this time remembering to turn the ringer on the phone off.

I was just wrapping up my session when there was a knock on the door. I was very well relaxed and ready for the day, at least I would be once I'd had a proper shower and grabbed some breakfast. Peeking through the security peephole I spied Morelli. I let him in then headed for the bathroom to shower so as to not get behind schedule, cause it would come out of my break times.

He followed me into the bathroom to talk to me, which I assumed was what he'd come to do.

"I've noticed you've been busy lately, Cupcake," he told me as I lathered shampoo on my hair. "Is there any reason?"

"I'm trying to get my life in order. And trying to lose dress sizes for the wedding." Okay so the last bit was a teensy lie, but hey, I had to play the part of the enthusiastic fiancé, otherwise people would get suspicious.

"That's great, Cupcake but I hardly ever see you."

"What do you mean?" I asked rinsing my hair. "You saw me last night."

"That's not what I mean. I haven't _seen_ you in ages. It's been so long I'm beginning to forget what you look like."

Hmm. Should I let him? If you think I should let him join me in the shower keep reading here. If you think I should deprive him even more skip ahead.

Okay so I wasn't really going to give you the choice of the outcome, but hey, I like to keep the connection alive. I didn't let him in, but I did let him pull back the curtain to watch me as I rinsed the soap from my body. A look of hunger came over his face as he watched.

"Damn it, this isn't what I meant either! I need you, Cupcake."

"Well, I'm sorry, but I haven't got time at the moment, perhaps you could try again tonight, or perhaps on the weekend, I haven't got any plans for Saturday afternoon."

"You promise you're not teasing?" he asked licking his lips.

"Cross my heart." I said, adding to it the corresponding action 'accidentally' grazing my nipple as I did so.

"Okay, Saturday, noon, my house, don't forget."

I opened my eyes and looked at him. "Of course I won't forget, jeez, what do you take me for? An imbecile?"

"Sorry, I'm just a very deprived man."

"Sure you are," I commented pulling the curtain closed again.

**Ranger's POV**

I watched them make their way around the oval on their seventh lap. For Steph, that was really good. When she was training with me for those short bursts of time we were lucky if she made it around twice. She was keeping pace with Tank who was not exactly pushing it but wasn't lagging either. I'd seen him run harder but then he was training Steph. They'd been running at the same pace since four-thirty not even slowing for her to slurp down some water, she just kept running.

It was amazing watching the two of them. I never would have thought Steph capable of matching any pace Tank set, but there she was matching it with ease. Tank obviously had a lot of patience with the woman. They also seemed to be having a conversation while they ran, indicating that she was not even out of breath.

At lap thirteen she started to lag behind a bit so Tank slowed his pace to match hers, but didn't let her slow down any more for the remaining two laps. Incredible. She actually made through a full fifteen laps without stopping. True she had slowed toward the end, but she hadn't stopped.

**Tank's POV**

We only went fifteen laps today instead of her usual twenty and kept a slower pace because she was suffering rather severe monthly cramps. She turned up rather pale in the face and it took a moment for her to control the pain enough to start jogging, but she didn't give up. We started with a comfortable jog and after about two laps increased to a run. Her cramps lessened in intensity halfway through the run, but I didn't want to push her too much. She had a full day ahead of her and if the pains were as bad as she said they were, she didn't really need the added pain from hitting it too hard on the track.

At lap seven or eight she struck up a conversation regarding her meditation. She wanted to do her meditation here instead of driving all the way home and wasting valuable time. She could grab a shower here after her run and meditate in the middle of the oval as I finished my own run. That way we could extend the time she spent on the track and not have to worry about where the time was going to come from. These were all her ideas, and frankly I was impressed. I hadn't even thought about extending her track time, but she seemed eager to.

"He's watching us you know?" I told her as we made it around to the start line for the tenth time.

"Uh huh. I know. He's been here the entire time." She didn't even look at me. "He's been spying on my combat class as well. Did you know that?"

"Wow, Bomber you really are switched on, aren't you?"

She laughed. "Either that or Batman's loosing his touch."

"Batman?" Did she just call Ranger Batman? Hmm, that puts a new perspective on things. I'll have to keep it in mind.

"Well nobody knows where he actually lives, and he's always getting called away on some important top secret mission thing, so I figured if the shoe fits…"

"I know where he actually lives. Does that make me Robin?"

"Well, you are kind of a boy wonder…"

She did not elaborate on that comment, but I had watched enough TV that I knew what she was talking about. "So, if Ranger's Batman and I'm Robin, what does that make you?" I asked, curious as to how she would reply.

She pondered my question for a moment never once slowing. "You know?" she said, surging around the corner, "I've never really factored myself into the equation. What _does_ that make me?"

I chuckled at her obvious astonishment and we continued the rest of the run in silence. When she had completed the rest of her run she caught a shower and took a position in the middle of the field to meditate.

**Ranger's POV**

After fifteen laps Tank continued without her at a more insistent pace while she took a shower. Ten minutes later she was on the field middle of the track sitting cross-legged. She had on navy blue sweats and snug knit shirt and there seemed to be some kind of cord running from her ears to the pocket of her sweats. I pod.

While Tank continued running for another half hour she just sat there motionless. For a few minutes I thought she had fallen asleep but then I realised that she must be meditating. It was alarming; I'd never seen her so still or calm in all my years of knowing her. Tank truly was a miracle worker. Not only was she calm and in shape but she was eating actual food instead of doughnuts and tastykakes, I had dropped by her house just after she left this morning to have a look around and there was not a single doughnut in the entire apartment.

At seven she got up stretched hugged Tank goodbye and made her way back toward the parking lot. I assumed she was heading for her car but lost sight of her when the path was taken over by trees. Minutes later I heard a tap on the passenger side window and turned to find a smiling Stephanie peering in. I reached over and unlocked the door for her to slide in and she did.

"What are you doing here? Spying?" she asked still smiling, though less so.

"I might be."

"Sure, evasive tactics don't hide the physical evidence Ranger. You have Binoculars around your neck, your SUV is facing the oval and you're not at all surprised to see me. Face it, you're just jealous that you weren't able to get me to train this good."

"Babe-" I started but she cut me off.

"Let me give you a hint for the next girl you try to train, Start small and work her toward the big stuff." She cringed and her hand shot to her abdomen.

"You were looking good out there," I told her, unsure of what else to say. " I never would have guessed you'd be able to keep pace with Tank."

"We went rather slow today because I have these major cramps; it must be coming up to that time of the month." Now this I hadn't expected, her comment took me entirely by surprise and as a result I found myself gaping at her. She chuckled half-heartedly and pushed my mouth closed saying, "Close your mouth, Batman, you don't want the flies to get in."

**Steph's POV**

The next day was Saturday and the cramps had not died down, in fact they were almost crippling and my period had not yet come. I awoke in pain at four o'clock after only having slept for about an hour. I could not run in this condition, so I pick up the phone from my bedside table and called Tank.

"Yeah?" Tank's voice was laced with sleep when he answered the phone moments later.

"It's Steph," I told him taking in a sharp breath as pian shot through my abdomen once more.

"Steph? Are you okay?" He was sounding more awake now, wow that was quick.

"I can't run today," I said through gritted teeth. "My cramps are way worse."

"How bad is the pain?"

"About a ten on the scale."

"Don't do anything I'm coming over."

"But-" I did not have the chance to finish my protest as the reversing truck sounded in my ear. I sighed and hung up the phone, curling into the foetal position as the pain skyrocketed off the chart. That's how Tank found me, covered in sweat from head to toe, shivering and moaning in agony.

"Bombshell, I think you have appendicitis," Tank told me as he pressed his fingers lightly over my abdomen. "I'm gonna have to get you to the emergency room myself, there's no time to wait for an ambulance."

I was beyond caring what he had to do; all I wanted was for the pain to stop. I groaned as he picked me up and started to carry me toward the door. If I weren't in so much pain I would have been marvelling at the feel of his body so close to mine. It's not like we didn't get this close during training session, but this felt different and it wasn't because of the pain I was feeling. As it was the agony I was experiencing was making me hallucinate. I could have sworn I saw Ranger in the back seat of Tank's Bronco and Tank strapped me into the front passenger seat placing a pillow between the seat belt and me.

"Don't pass out. Talk to me, tell me about … Tell me about the future, where do you to go in life." He was sounding a little panicked, which is weird because he faces crisis everyday, why would I simple almost explode appendix worry him? Hmm, I should ask him when I'm better, right now I need to talk to him, What did he say to tell him about? Oh well I'll tell him about when I was a kid.

"When I was six and Morelli was eight I wasn't supposed to go near him. My mother said that the Morelli boys were nothing but trouble, so obviously I was intrigued with Morelli. Anyway, this one day I was in the street playing and he came up and wanted to know if I wanted to learn a new game. Naturally I said yes and followed him into his father's garage. He told me that the name of the game was choo choo and then he proceeded to crawl between my legs and finger me. Then I wanted a go at being the train but he wouldn't let me, still doesn't actually. I suppose that's why I want to get out of this relationship. It's always one sided.

"When I had really bad morning sickness he was always telling me to go see a doctor, regardless of how I felt I should go about my life he would try to lead it for me." By this time tears were streaming down my face, not just because of the pain, though, because I was finally going to get out of this endless on again off again relationship.

"Bombshell, I told you to tell me about the future where you want to go in life. Your plans."

"Oh," I sobbed, brining my knees up to my chest against the pain in my abdomen. "I want to leave Trenton. Go far away and start a new life. I want to leave everything behind and start fresh with a different identity, on a different continent, in a different hemisphere. I want a new me. That's why I've been training so hard, Tank, I need to move on and I need to be able to live efficiently by myself to achieve my goals. I need a new job, I can't go on catching these skips, I just can't."

"Maybe Ranger has a position open at Rangeman, I'll check with him later."

He pulled in front of the Emergency room and went in to get a nurse who came out with a wheel chair, which Tank lifted me into. "It's going to be alright," the nurse told me as she wheeled me through the waiting area. "We're going to get you looked at and confirm it's appendicitis then we'll probably get you straight to surgery. Stay with us now. I'm sorry, family only past this point."

She must have directed that last bit to Tank because I heard him say something about being my fiancé.

They took me into an examination room and the doctor poked and prodded my stomach asking whether it hurt, to which my replies were consistent groans of agony and then a scream of, "YES IT FUCKING WELL HURTS I WOULDN'T BE IN HERE IF IT DIDN'T!!!! GET THE DAMN THING OUT OF ME _NOW_!!!!" with that they sent Tank back out into the waiting room and took me to be prepped for surgery.

Once more I knew I was awake, however I could not open my eyes. The sheets were cool on my sensitive skin and I could smell flowers of some kind. I listened to my surroundings to see if I could get a clue as to what was going on. There was a whispered conversation coming from somewhere on my right, I assumed it was in the direction of the doorway. Listening closely I could make out Tanks voice, but not what he was saying, listening even closer I heard Ranger's voice, he seemed angry, hmm, I wonder why that is.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Oh yay, they're getting louder so I can hear them, thanks guys.

"She made me promise not to, I'm sorry, Boss. She wanted a clean break, but she needed help, and she enlisted mine." Poor Tank this was all my fault.

"How were you planning on giving her that clean break?" Ranger scathed.

"The same way you gave me my break, Boss. Faking her death, giving her a fake identity, and sending her to a different continent, complete with a job. But first I needed to provide her with the tools to live life efficiently." They weren't getting louder; they were just getting closer to my bed. They seemed to holding their conversation in a little less than a whisper. Of course they were, they didn't want anyone to know that they were planning on faking my death.

All of a sudden my eyes flew open of their own accord and I gasped at the brightness of the room. Both Ranger and Tank's head swam into my range of vision and I realised that I was propped on my side with my knees bent toward my chest.

"Bombshell, you awake?" Tank asked.

"You told him?" I asked hoarsely, glancing toward Ranger.

"No, Babe, you told me." Ranger answered for me.

"The car," I groaned closing my eyes again.

The next time I opened them the room was empty, at least I thought it was, there were no conversations whispered or otherwise. I groaned and reached out for the assistance button, but my hand collided with the water pitcher on the table beside my bed. I guess I was a little unco. The pitcher hit the floor and shattered and probably sent water all over the floor, but I can't be sure, as my range of vision was very small.

"Good one, Cupcake," came a voice I recognised as Morelli. He came into my line of view a smile planted on his face. He reached behind my head, to hit the assistance button, I assumed. "How do you feel?"

I smiled. "Morelli," I said simply.

"That's nice dear. How do you feel? How's your appendix?"

I gave a short laugh then realised it hurt and stopped abruptly. "I've been better," I sighed.

He laughed and ran his thumb down my cheek caressing my jaw. "You'll be better again. Things just don't seem to be going your way at the moment. First you lost you baby, and now appendicitis. They say these things come in threes, I wonder what's next on the almighty plan."

"Don't speculate about things like that while I'm in pain, Morelli, it's not nice."

He grinned at that and changed the topic. "I thought you'd forgotten about me, so I called you apartment but no one picked up and then the same with your mobile, I left several messages on each and then I decided to call Ranger and see if he knew where you are, that's when I found out you were here. You'd think that they would have called me first thing, being that I'm your fiancé."

I smiled back at him but didn't say anything.

_  
_"Honey, you heard what the doctor said, you have to take it easy for the next week at least and then you can't dive straight back into all your training you have to ease yourself into it." Morelli was lecturing me at four in the morning because I tried to get up for my morning run. Once again, I tried to tell him that it is my life and I should be the one to decide how to lead it. And once again he came out with his ever-famous line, "But I love you and I don't know what I would do with out you." He just doesn't get it; I need to lead my life myself instead of having a dictator.

"I was just going to walk around the oval for a while, it's not like I was going to run full pelt until I collapsed and had to go back to hospital. You know I hate hospitals."

"I still don't think you're ready to even do that much."

"Morelli, if I don't start easing myself back into a routine now I never will and then I'll get fat I my dress won't fit and I'll never get a different job and I'll be stuck in this dead end carrier for the rest of my life until I can't work properly anymore and Vinnie lays me off and I end up living with my children because you left me because I was so fat that I didn't fit in my wedding dress all because you wouldn't let me continue with my routine!" Tears were streaming down my face as I concluded my rant. He took a step closer to me but I turned away and headed for the bathroom. "I'm going to my training session, I've already missed three days and I'm not prepared to miss much more."

"Cupcake, this is not up for debate!" Morelli had followed me into the bathroom and was standing between the door and me so that I couldn't get out. "You're not going for that run, and that's final! You need at least another day of rest before you can even think about going back. And as for your job, well you can just give that up right now. I don't want you out there chasing deranged bad guys where anything can happen to you. You've been through enough the past month, why don't you just take a break?"

"I give up. It's impossible to win against you; I don't know why I agreed to marry you. I'm leaving right now and if you follow me I'm going to shoot you."

"Cupcake, stop kidding yourself, you wouldn't shoot me."

I turned a gaze on him that would have sent anyone else running for the hills, but of course Morelli was not anyone else, he was stubborn and stupid and thought he knew what I was capable of. Little did he know that I have surpassed him when it came to hand to hand combat, I'd take him out if I had to but right now I wanted to get my stuff and get out of his house.

An hour later I had all my stuff out of Morelli's house and was standing in the lobby at RangeMan, deciding weather or not to go straight up or talk to the receptionist. I decided that I really need to talk to Tank and I didn't want to chance being denied. I still had my key fob and my RangeMan id so I flashed it and went straight up.

As I entered the control room two sets of eyes glued themselves to me, Ranger and Tank. A couple of other workers such as Bobby and Lester glanced up and said hi but immediately went back to work.

"Babe, what are you doing here?" Ranger's face was blank, but his eyes were filled with concern. Tank stood and let me have his chair, which I took gratefully.

"You're supposed to be at home resting, Bomber," Tank told me.

"I need a place to stay where Morelli can't get me," I blurted out.

Both men looked shocked and confused at my confession. Their jaws dropped and Tank almost fell over. I looked from one to the other waiting for someone to take charge of the situation. It was several moments before either of them spoke; Ranger was first.

"You're welcome to stay in my apartment."

I shook my head. "That's the last thing I need," I told him. "If Morelli finds out I'm staying in our apartment he'll think I'm sleeping with you and that will make him angrier and besides there is only one bed in your apartment and if we were sleeping in the same bed we probably would end up doing the dirty deed. No, I definitely can not stay in your apartment."

Tank finally seemed to recover from the shock giving his suggestion. "Hal has just moved out of his apartment to spend time with his wife in the Caribbean before their child his born, you can take his apartment for a while. He won't mind."

"Babe, what happened? You look like Hell froze over."

I gave a short laugh, finding that it no longer hurt to do so and proceeded to tell the men of the mornings events. Both men stayed stone faced and silent throughout my story, which was good because I probably would have bitten the head off of anyone who interrupted. "… And then I came here," I concluded.

"He has a point," Tank said. "You shouldn't be pushing the limits by starting this soon. You need at least another day."

Men, they all think alike. It's impossible to find two guys that have different opinions! I sat gaping at him for a moment before Ranger hit him in the back of the head. Sometimes they reminded me so much of the characters in NCIS that I wondered whether the show was based on them in some way, then I remember that this is Ranger and Tank that I'm thinking about and return my attention to the conversation at hand. In this case I had only missed a couple of words but it was enough to put me behind so I spent the time in which Ranger was talking to me nodding as if I was catching every word and thinking about where I would like to live. Maybe Australia… Oh, he looks like he's wrapping things up now I'd better tune back in.

"And then when you've combined all the ingredients you stick it in the oven for forty-five minutes on high." Huh? Oh, wrong station _Static_

"Babe, you weren't listening to a word I was saying, what's on your mind?"

"I was just thinking I'd like to go to Australia," I said blushing slightly.

"Great minds think alike, Babe."

"Then what are we doing? MY mind ain't great and we all know it."

Ranger turned to Tank. "We need to work on that." Tank simply nodded and Ranger turned back to me. "I was just saying that probably the best place to send you would be Australia."

**Tank's POV**

I was seated in the comfy chair near the window when Steph entered the chill out room. It had been a week since she came to us for a place to stay and she seemed to be settling in just fine. Although she hadn't left the building for five days, that one was a bit worrying.

Today she had on a pair of short shorts and a big baggy t-shirt I recognised as the one I had leant to he the day I picked her up in that bar as drunk as a skunk. Had ended up vomiting down the front of the outfit she had been wearing so leant her one of my t-shirts. The difference was how she wore it; today she had made it look less baggy by tying a knot in the side to keep it from hanging too low.

Having recently mastered the technique of the straightening iron her hair was, today, straight. This was a sign that she did not intend on going out today. Her hair was actually quite long when it wasn't curly.

She smiled at me and continued toward the beanbag in the corner of the room. She said she like the position as she could see anyone coming into the room as well as the room at large. To which I replied that this was RangeMan, a secure building, that no one can get into or out of with out approval, but she didn't seem overly impressed my that and continued to sit there when ever she was in the room.

I watched her as she walked. I had noticed a distinct behaviour in the past few days that I would never have been able to observe during our regular training sessions; behaviour that indicated her mood, and her comfort level. As she walked toward 'her' beanbag she limped a little, but that wasn't what caught my eye. She seemed to be very jumpy. It was just us in the room, but her eyes were continually wandering, never once stopping. And when I shifted in my seat, causing a slight rustle of cloth on cloth she jumped.

I let her get comfortable in the beanbag before I stood to join her.

"We need to talk."

She looked at me and tried to smile, but it didn't quite work. "We are talking."

"In private."

She glanced once more around the room. "This looks pretty private to me."

"Currently, yes, but anyone could walk in at any moment, and trust me with the talk I want to have with you that's not what you want." Her eyes grew wide with shock as she tried to figure out what I wanted to talk to her about. "There's something going on that you're not telling us. Before we can do much more you have to spill a little."

**Steph's POV**

I followed him into his office so that we could talk, but I still wasn't sure what he wanted to achieve from it. He took the seat behind his desk and I sat across from him, it was rather awkward sitting there as if it were a job interview.

"I've noticed a few behavioural traits in the past week which if I might say so tell me that something happened that you don't want anyone to know about, and therefore are trying to hide it." He has never spoken to me like that before in my life. What is going on? "You feel uncomfortable in the most serene situations. You do not feel safe in the chill out room of all places and you're trying to act as if nothing has happened. What's wrong?"

I sighed, the gig is up, no more pretending now, I have to tell him… hang on, tell him what? I had no idea what he was talking about! "I'm not sure I follow where you're going with this Tank."

"Has Morelli ever hit you? Or touched you when you didn't want to be touched? Has he ever continued when you said no?"

"WHAT? Are you suggesting Morelli raped me? Are you crazy? Morelli would never do that to me!"

Tank gave me a cynical look as if to 'Oh wouldn't he?' but kept quiet. He let me think for a moment before he said, "Sometimes the events are so horrific that we erase them from our memory but still react to things that may seem similar to the event."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Are you a psychologist underneath all of this macho crud?"

He smiled. "I have a doctorate in psychology, degrees in physiotherapy and business and I am a qualified trainer in track and feild."

"But you work in security?"

"Yes, primarily I work in security but on the side as you have experienced I help people with problems they have such as physical and mental health."

"Wow, that must have been a work load and a half in college."

"I went to military school my entire life so I was well prepared for the discipline of so many subject, not only that but I spent a lot of years there. But we're getting off topic, we're in here because of your behaviour not to talk about how many pieces of paper I have to qualify me."

"Okay, so what do we do? You obviously think I've erased something hideous from my memory and that it is affecting the way I act and react now, so what are you going to do about it?"

"Now me, Bomber, us. I'd like to hold weekly sessions in this office to try and work on it. Is that okay?"

"That's fine, when are you going to start my regular training sessions again?"

"Whenever you want. It's up to you."

"How's tomorrow, four thirty?"

"See you then."


	6. End?

Chapter Six 

I awoke with a start. None of it seemed to make any sense. Why would I want to leave Joe? Why would I want to do any of that? I couldn't get that in tune with my body that fast! It just wouldn't happen. For one I wouldn't be able to get up at four-thirty without someone pouring ice water on me and for another my middle name's not Leanne! That was definitely one messed up dream… it was a dream right?

Scoping out the room I was in lead me to further believe that it was a dream. I was lying in Morelli's bed wrapped in his loving embrace. Let me repeat that just to make sure my brain got the message: LOVING EMBRACE!

I tried to move off the bed to get a drink, but Morelli's LOVING EMBRACE tightened. "Where are you going?" Morelli mumbled.

"I was just going to get a drink of water," I told him.

"You've been tossing and turning all night, what's the matter?"

I sighed heavily, if this wasn't a sign that it was all a dream I don't what is. "I   
had a bad dream. It was absolutely horrid."

"Tell me about it," he said, sitting up in bed.

"No, it seems silly now."

"Just tell me about it. My mom always said that you should talk about nightmares, it helps to get over them."

I didn't want to talk about it. He might get offended that I doubted him even if it was only a dream. Nope, I was just going to put it from my mind and… "Okay, well it started off I awoke in hospital, except I wasn't really awake, I felt awake but I couldn't move or make any sounds all I could do was listen to the conversation around me…" and I told him the entire story. _(AN: The dream starts about halfway through chapter three and ends at the end of chapter five… yes I know a very long dream, and I didn't indicate it, but the ideas were still forming and I thought of this after reading the reviews for chapter four… sorry)_ It turns out Morelli is a really good audience, he 'oo'ed, and 'ah'ed in all the right places and didn't even get mad until I told him the part about Tank suspecting he raped me. I guess that he wasn't too angry overall being that it was just a dream, but he was still pretty mad that something like that had even come up in a dream.

He politely listened to the end of my story, however as soon as I was finished and he had given me a reassuring hug he left me alone on the bed and went to the spare room where he then proceeded to lock the door. My guess was that he was sulking. But I was grateful for the time alone so that I could think about things trying to get my memories straight.

I definitely remembered feinting after yelling at Ranger that day at the office… but how long ago was that? Further inspection of my brain showed that I had had something of a trip after waking up from feinting and I had been taken away in an ambulance unconscious. Okay so how did I end up here?

Puzzled, I looked down at my belly as if it held the answer to all my questions, and it was the same as it always was; podgy. I sat there in the half dark of the morning trying to construct memories (other than the dream) of what happened between me passing out and being taken to hospital and me waking up about half an hour ago. After about fifteen minutes I gave it up and headed down stairs to make breakfast. I know what you're saying: "But Stephanie, you don't know how to cook." Yes I know I can't cook, however, that doesn't mean that I don't know how to shove things in a microwave and push a couple of buttons.

In the kitchen I poured rolled oats into two bowls and added water, shoved them both in the microwave and hit a few buttons. While the porridge was fixing itself I went in search of Morelli, assuming he was still in the spare room. I was right in my assumptions.

Knocking softly on the door I called out in my sweetest voice, that I had made him breakfast and that I needed to ask him a few questions about a very important matter. The only response I received was a grunt to let me know that he had heard me, so I left to go wait for him in the kitchen.

The minutes ticked by and still there was no sign of Morelli in the kitchen. His porridge was getting cold and if he didn't come out soon I was gonna have to eat it myself. I was just finishing off my own bowl when I heard a creak in the hall. Through my powers of deduction I found out it was Morelli.

"You're porridge is getting cold, Morelli," I called.

"I'm not hungry," he grumbled.

"You're not leaving this house until you've eaten something." Damnit I sounded just like my mother; how do I feel about that?

He stopped in the doorway and took in the scene. Me at the table setting down my empty bowl, the seat across from me empty sporting a full bowl and the concerned look in my eye as I gazed back at him. He was dressed and ready for work (well that rules out the weekend but it was only seven).

"I'm scared, Joe," I finally said. "I don't know I can go through with this."

"It's a bit late for that isn't it?" Joe said with a smile entering the room. He bent down and grabbed my hand to pull me up before planting those gorgeous lips on mine and giving me the pash of a lifetime. Then he pulled away from me and put a hand on my belly. "I don't think you have a choice in the matter now."

I looked at him seriously, but it was tough to keep a straight face when he was gazing at me like that. It was like we were the only people on the planet and he needed a fix. Cripes, was there no end to his mood swings? Hang on; wasn't I supposed to be the one with the mood swings? Oh well.

"You had some important questions…?" he asked letting go of me and taking a seat at the table.

"Yes, number one, how long has it been since the day I feinted at the office? Number two; what happened between me being taken off in the ambulance that day and when I woke up half an hour ago? And number three, what day is it?"

He grinned broadly and took a bite of his now cold porridge before answering. "It's been one day. You weren't taken off in an ambulance it was all in your head like the kaleidoscope. You woke up forty-five minutes ago. And it's Friday."

Ah, Morelli, my rock, my beginning, my end, my… future husband. Wow, it all seems different when you think of it that way. It seemed so much more permanent than boyfriend or fiancé. When I thought of him it was like all my worries were gone, if only for a moment before I was pulled back to reality by snide comments and evilistic remarks regarding my abilities.

"This is disgusting," Morelli, complained, "You do know you're supposed to heat this up don't you?"

Just like that I was snapped to reality. I glared at him as he screwed his nose up. "I told you it was getting cold. It's not my fault you took forever getting down here. If you had come when I called it would have been nice and warm. It's your own fault if your porridge is cold." Cripes, that was definitely a Mom line. Morelli was now grinning at me. "What?" I asked suspiciously.

"I couldn't have asked for a better mother of my children," he said pushing back his chair and making his way over to the microwave. As he hit a few buttons I saw him shake his head and sigh, I'd get him, he was going to be the one up at all hours of the morning pacing up and down trying to get junior to let the gas out, not me, I was going to flat out refuse. I had to go through the pain of giving birth to it so he could endure sleepless nights walking the halls.

"I know that face," he said sitting back down. "And I don't like it. I' gonna hide you're gun and any other potential weapons that are in the house. I don't care if we have to order takeout every night because I took the knives away, you are not going through with whatever plans that wicked brain of yours is thinking up."

I simply grinned at him adding to his feeling of dread, he always over reacted, I guess it was part of that worst-case scenario thing that he was always trying to drill into me. Oh well, I can live with takeout.

I stood and on my way back towards the stairs stopped to give Morelli a bit of a show, undoing the belt of my gown and letting him see my lovely lady lumps before hurrying upstairs to get changed and ready for the day.

_  
This is the end of Bringing Down the House. I know she did not literally or metaphorically bring down the house ion any way shape or form, but things don't always go to plan. Please stay tuned for a sequel entitled so originally "Bringing down the House Too". It will feature Stephanie with her hands full of… well, lets just say, diaper treasure. I'm sorry, for all the confusion I have caused anyone, but I just writes it as it comes and I don't think ahead too often. Some positive feedback would do wonders for my ego and confidence, but don't feel obligated. _


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